First in person Commencement in two years for FCC Grads
A cool down in the weather will come just in time for the Fresno City College Commencement Exercises on Wednesday, June 23 and Thursday, June 24. The ceremonies will include both the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021. Two ceremonies are being held to accommodate the larger number of graduates. Each ceremony will begin at 8:00 p.m. and will be held in Chukchansi Park. The ceremonies will be divided by Ram Pathway major of each student. June 23 will include graduates in the Business and Health & STEM majors. June 24 will include graduates in the Culture, Education & Society; Arts, Communication & Language; and Tech & Trades majors.
Commencement originally was going to be a virtual celebration this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. The last in-person ceremony was held in 2019. Once it was apparent that pandemic conditions were improving and an in-person ceremony was possible, Fresno City College changed plans and moved Commencement from May to June to have time to plan an outdoor event. With the uncertainty of what COVID conditions would be in place by June, all graduates were required to RSVP for the ceremony and are only allowed four guests each. Those reservations will be honored and no new attendees will be allowed.
Each ceremony will be live streamed through CMAC (Community Media Access Collaborative) on its website and on its YouTube channel. The links are https://cmac.tv/edu/ and https://cmac.tv/fcc
The Class of 2020, with 2,006 graduates, was the largest class ever in the history of the college at the time. That record is being broken this year with the Class of 2021 consisting of 2,314 graduates. The numbers are a testament to the dedication of students who worked especially hard to finish their degrees despite the challenges of taking online classes during the difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fresno City College is also pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Dean’s Medallion Award winners. The winners are chosen by the dean of each division based on academic excellence, their abilities to overcome obstacles and face adversity. The award celebrates their exceptional achievements. Each year, the President of the college awards the Tony Cantu President’s Medallion to one of the recipients. This award honors the late president who served the students of the State Center Community College District before his untimely passing in 2015. This year, President Carole Goldsmith has chosen Mr. Sylas Ramos to receive this award.
2021 Dean’s Medallion Recipients
Ms. Lou Moua
Allied Health, Physical Education and Athletics Division
Ms. Irene Vuong
Applied Technology Division
Mr. Sylas Ramos
Business Education Division
Ms. Brianna Beltran
Fine, Performing and Communications Arts Division
Ms. De Colette Quezada
Guidance & Counseling Division
Ms. Ivana Matias
Humanities Division
Ms. Jalana Gage
Library & Student Learning Support Services Division
Ms. Claudia Luna
Math, Science & Engineering Division
Ms. Destiny Corrales
Social Sciences Division
Graduate Nico Vargas will sing the National Anthem each night. Both ceremonies will conclude with a fireworks display. Attendees are asked to follow current COVID-19 protocols.
